


Sweet(?) Sixteen

by Lady_Felucia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, kylux - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren Fluff, Beginnings, Boys In Love, Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Cantina, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Ending, Gay, Gay Male Character, Han Solo's A+ Parenting, Hux-centric, I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied Sexual Content, Kylux - Freeform, Love Confessions, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Protective Kylo Ren, Romantic Fluff, Secret Crush, Short & Sweet, Short Story, Star Wars References, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Sweet, Young Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 01:58:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14684064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Felucia/pseuds/Lady_Felucia
Summary: Armitage Hux is a teenage boy, living at home with his father, and attending a prestigious academic academy. Hux works hard at being the studious, hard-working son that his father demands of him, but inside, he’s teeming with feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.For Hux’s 16th birthday, his father has a small ‘party’ for him in the last place in the galaxy that Hux would want to be ... but an unexpected appearance from a fellow classmate may be enough to turn the evening from disastrous ... to wonderful.





	Sweet(?) Sixteen

Hux was horrifically mortified. Every woman around them was in some stage of nudity, serving drinks, walking around offering private dances to the more affluent-looking customers. Hux didn’t know where to look, so he kept his eyes on the table. He was thankful for the low, colorful lighting in here; it provided a good cover for the blush he could feel burning across his face.

Hux’s relationship with his father, Brendol, had always been a difficult one. He knew from a young age that Hux Sr. had extraordinarily high expectations for his son, and for the most part, Hux lived up to them. Although he was only 16, he was brilliant. He was in the top 1 percentile of students at the Academy, he tirelessly helped his father with his work on the city council, he founded and co-ran several student-run charities throughout the city, and he was gearing up for a post-academy career in the military, like his father had had in his youth.

But, with the exception of his animal charity, all of these things failed to make Hux happy. There were so many times that he wished everything in his life would just fall away and disappear, and leave him to live a normal, low-pressure life, like his classmates did.

And there was one area that he failed miserably in, that his father was working to ‘correct’: Hux’s lack of success with girls. 

Brendol constantly arranged dates for his son, with the daughters of his council co-workers ... but nothing ever seemed to pan out. But Hux knew the importance of putting on an act, so he would come home from these evenings with elaborate, made-up tales about his experiences with the girls. 

But Brendol knew the truth.

And Hux knew the truth, about himself. He knew, but he accepted that his truth wasn’t something he could bring into the open, until he was old enough to be out from his father’s thumb.

The truth was: Hux didn’t like women.  
He never had.

He couldn’t recall a single time in his life where he found the female body to be in any way attractive, or desirable, to him. He had several female friends, yes, but never anybody that he wanted to pursue something romantic with.

He also knew another truth: there WAS somebody that had caught his eye. Somebody that had held his attention for a number of years. Somebody that he thought was attractive, funny, smart, and wonderful.

A _male_ somebody.

But Hux never approached this somebody with his feelings, both out of a fear of rejection, and the danger of possibly ruining what was a good friendship with this person.

So Hux suffered through his father’s set-ups in silence, and put up with Brendol’s numerous attempts to ‘fix’ him.

Today, though, was a bit extreme.

Hux had celebrated his 16th birthday several days ago, meaning he was now old enough to get into Lights, a cantina his father regularly frequented.

Or, at least, Brendol had TOLD him it was a cantina. But the reality was brutally clear the second they walked in the door: this was an exotic dance club. Hux had never seen a woman naked before, and to see it in this way was embarrassing, and somewhat appalling, to him.

His father ordered a round for the table, which included Hux, three of Brendol’s coworkers, and their sons, whom Hux went to academy with but didn’t really care for. The girl who brought the tray of drinks out to them was a Twilek, friendly and completely topless. Apparently she knew Brendol somewhat, because she acted rather excited to see him, kissing his cheek before plopping down in his lap. Hux hurriedly downed half of his drink, hoping that the liquor would dull him before his mind could start screaming in horror.

“You feel a little tense, sugar,” the woman purred to Brendol, still on his lap as she rubbed his shoulders. “Do you need a ‘massage’, loosen you up a bit?”

“Ah, no thanks, love. Maybe later,” he told her, tipping her a wink. She smiled and got off his lap. “Let me know if you change your mind,” she said, before moving on.

“To my boy, on his birthday,” Brendol said, raising his glass. Everyone else followed suit, and Hux gulped the second half of his beer, which made his father proud. He ordered Hux another.

The woman who brought his second drink out was also topless ... and bottomless, as well. The only ‘clothing’ she wore was a long beaded necklace that hung down between her breasts.

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” she said as she set the glass down, her voice low and seductive.

“This is my son, Armitage.”, Brendol supplied from across the table.

“THIS is your son?!,” she squealed. “Maker, I guess I should have known that; he’d as good-looking as his father.”

She extended her hand to Hux. “I’m Carline, sweetie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Hux didn’t want to touch her, but he knew his father would explode at him if he didn’t. So he quickly took her hand, keeping his eyes on the table as he did so.

“Ma’am,” he said quietly.

“Ooooh, and he’s polite, too? I certainly hope I’ll see more of you around, darlin’.”

She left, and Hux started in on the second glass of beer. He also lit a cigarette. Smoking was something that he had done since he was 12 years old, an activity approved of by his father. Apparently filling his lungs with a toxic substance was something that fell under the category of Masculinity to Brendol Hux. There was a stage to the right front of them, and a show had started: 3 women, gyrating and grinding on each other. Everyone at the table hooted and hollered and watched most enthusiastically, but Hux just sipped at his drink and watched the back of the heads of those around him. By the time he finished the second beer, he asked his father to order him another while he excused himself to the refresher.

Making his way across the floor was difficult, as the alcohol was hitting him in force, now. But this was what he wanted; he wanted to not be mentally present, anymore. When he got to the refresher, he peed for what felt like hours, then stayed even longer, striking up a conversation with the attendant, as a way to avoid going back out.

When he felt he couldn’t put it off any longer, he headed out. Right before he got to his table, he did a double-take:

Ben Solo and his father, Han, was there.

Hux’s heart started to beat wildly in his chest, and he had to take several deep breaths, to calm himself. When he felt under control he walked up as confidently as he could, and said, “Hey. What are you doing here?”

Ben Solo was somebody that Hux had known almost his entire life. His mother was Leia Organa, who worked alongside Brendol on the city council. Like Hux, Ben was incredibly intelligent. He was also very emotional, and sometimes his emotions could manifest themselves in frightening, _magical_ ways.

About two years ago, Ben discovered that he was Force-sensitive, which really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone. His mother, after all, was the biological daughter of Darth Vader, and the Force had always run high in the Skywalker clan. Ever since then, Ben attended Academy part-time, to “learn normal stuff”, as he put it, and the rest of his time he was off with his uncle, the infamous Luke Skywalker, learning how to use and control his gift.

Ben’s parents were divorced, and Han Solo was almost always scattered across the stars, running his spice transporting business with two of his friends. Whenever he had a delivery in this neck of the universe, he tried to include his son on his hauls. It was a quick, easy way for Ben to earn some credits, as well as spend time with the elusive Han.

“Hey, Hux,” Ben answered him, smiling. “We were on our way back from a drop on Tattoine, and dad wanted to stop here.”

Hux looked down the table, from where Han was laughing boisterously with Brendol. Han already had three empty glasses in front of him, and was flirting with one of the girls while ordering a fourth. The difference between the two men was noticeable, even to Hux. Women gathered around Brendol because he had money, but women SWARMED Han Solo because he was wildly attractive, and he had a roguish charisma to him that was unparalleled. Hux couldn’t help but wonder how Ben felt, seeing all these women throw themselves at his dad. Especially when one added in the factor of how close Ben was to his mother.

Seeing Han’s drinks reminded Hux of his own, and he picked up his glass, taking another swallow.

“Aren’t you having anything?”, he asked as he wiped the foam from his lip.

Ben shook his head. “No. Gotta stay sober so I can fly us home.” 

Now he looked at Hux. “What are YOU doing here, anyway? This doesn’t look like your type of place.”

Lowering his voice, Hux said “It’s not. It’s really not. But dad brought me here, for, um, a birthday celebration, I guess.”

“Is it your birthday?”

“A few days ago.” Ben had been with his uncle at the time, so he wouldn’t have known that.

Ben put his arms around Hux’s shoulders, and squeezed. “Happy belated, man.”

Hux flushed an easy, bright pink, and he felt like he was melting in Ben’s arms. He could have stayed there forever, but he knew that any longer and his dad ...

Oh, dammit.

His father WAS looking at Ben hugging him, and he undoubtedly saw the dreamy look on his son’s face. He made eye contact with Hux briefly, giving him that little disapproving head-shake that his son was so used to seeing. Then he leaned over and whispered something to Han. Han laughed and nodded, taking another sip of his drink. 

“Armitage,” Brendol boomed in a pseudo-cheery voice, “I think nows a good time for the second part of your gift.”

Before Hux could ask what he meant by that, Brendol was calling a woman to the table and whispering in her ear. She looked down to where Hux was sitting, smiled, and nodded. Within minutes more girls were at the table, each one going to stand behind the chair of one of Hux’s three ‘friends’, Ben, and Hux himself.

“These young ladies are going to take you in back for a little entertainment. It’s on me, boys. Enjoy!”

Cheers went up around the table, and Hux’s three friends went eagerly with their women. Hux, however, lingered.

“Er, dad, this is ... nice of you, but it’s really not ...”

Brendol waved a dismissing hand at him. “Nonsense, son. Go on, have a good time.”

“But ...”

“I know I’ve taught you better manners than that, son. It’s rude to keep a lady waiting. Now go on!”

Hux felt his heart pounding as the girl behind him took hold of his arm and began pulling him towards the thick black curtain near the far back of the room. She was more clothed than anyone else he had seen so far, but Hux realized, with a flash of sinking intuition, that this was so she’d have more to strip out of, for him. Beside him, Ben was walking quietly alongside a different girl. The look on his face told Hux that he was as disenchanted with the situation as Hux was himself.

Behind the curtain was several heavy red doors. Ben’s lady took his hand and pulled him to one of the nearer ones, a smile on her face.

“Come on, honey. You’re about the cutest thing I ever did see. I can’t wait to ...”

“You don’t want to give me a dance.”, Ben said in a low voice, waving his hand slowly in front of the woman’s face. “You want to go to out back and rest a while.”

The light momentarily dimmed in her eyes, and suddenly she was repeating, in a stiff voice, “I don’t want to give you a dance. I want to go out back and rest awhile.”

She turned and walked off. Hux was looking at Ben in amazement. He had read about Jedi mind tricks before, but had never seen one performed up-close. Before he could comment, Ben was turning to Hux’s woman, and trying the same thing.

But she wasn’t responding to it. This could either have been because she was too strong-minded to fall for the trick, or she had a guilty conscience about having accepted the money from Brendol, and NOT doing what he paid her to do.

“Look,” Ben said in a low voice, putting his hand on the lady’s arm. “I’m sure you can understand, my friend here isn’t feeling up to a performance.”

He pulled a handful of paper credits from his pocket, and held it towards her.

“I’m sure that room can be put to other uses. For example, I’ll bet it’s dark enough and quiet enough to put your feet up and take a nap. So how about you rest a bit, and in about half an hour we’ll come back. My friend will walk out with you back to his father, and nobody has to be any the wiser. Agreed?”

She sighed a little, but nodded. “Okay,” she said. Her voice had changed, from the sultry, eager, ‘working’ tone, to one that was more natural, almost motherly. “You’re sweet. But you don’t have to pay me extra,” she told him, holding the credits back out to him.

He shook his head. “Keep it. Please. Buy your daughter a new toy.”

Her eyes widened in amazement. “How did you know I had a daughter?”

Ben just shrugged, a small smile on his face. “I’m just good at reading people, that’s all.”

So she went into the room, leaving the two of them standing alone. 

“You wanna come hang out in the Falcon with me, for a while?”

Hux nodded eagerly. “I do.”

So they crept out through the little door at the end of the hall, and circled the loading dock until they came upon the ancient-looking ship. Ben led Hux up the ramp and through the tiny pathway, to what appeared to be a small leisure area. Hux took one of the chairs by the table, and Ben took the other. 

“Do you play Dejarik?”, Ben asked, gesturing to the holographic chess set in front of them.

Hux shook his head. “Never learned.”

“Would you like me to teach you?”

“Maybe some other time. I’m just really happy to be out of that place.”

Ben nodded in understanding. 

“I know what you mean. ‘Lights’ isn’t so bad though. The women here aren’t as bold as some other places. Now you take Topa’s, this place on Tattoine ... it makes this place look like a temple. They don’t just have women, they have men, sex droids, and all types of alien species. And they can get aggressive. The last time I was there this guy tackled me and tried to sprint me to the back. If they get you past the curtain, even if nothing happens, they can legally charge you for a dance, you know.”

Hux laughed at that, the image of Ben being carried away too funny for his mind to comprehend. Then he sobered up a little and said, casually,

“That must have been awful for you, to be handled in that way, by ... by a _guy_?”

Ben surprised him by shaking his head. “No really. But I think I’m an old fashioned type when it comes to the rituals of courtship. With females ... or males,” he said, looking pointedly at Hux.

Hux looked away quickly, noting that his heart was beating just a bit too fast for this. He distracted himself by asking another question.

“So, Lights, Topa’s ... do you go to these kinds of places often, with your dad?”

Ben shrugged, leaning further back in his seat. Casually drumming his fingers along the wall, he explained,

“Yes, and no. I mean the exotic dance thing, not so much. In truth we mostly just come to places like this because dad says they serve their alcohol at cheaper prices than the regular cantinas.”

“That’s nice of them, I suppose.”

“Not really. They serve cheaper alcohol so that customers will get drunker, quicker. Lowered inhibitions means they’re more likely to spend money on the private rooms and the dances, which is where the prices are near-astronomical.”

“Huh. That’s actually really smart.”

He decided to change the subject again.

“So how is training with your uncle going?”

Ben proceeded to tell him about the various things he was learning under his uncle, about control, and tranquility, and utilizing the tremendous power of his mind. He demonstrated a few things for Hux, such as (admittedly impressively) levitating Hux’s chair, with Hux IN it. Hux clapped when Ben let him back down, causing the tall boy to blush, and take a playful bow.

“So, you studying all this; does that mean you want to be a Jedi, when you get older?”

Ben sighed and shook his head.

“I don’t think so. I mean, can get behind the training, I suppose, but I can’t get behind some of the philosophies. Like, the no attachments rule.”

“No attachments? What does that mean?”

“Jedis aren’t permitted to form romantic attachments to others. Luke has explained to me a thousand times WHY, but honestly I tune him out each tune. I don’t think that’s something I could do. If I love someone, I want to be able to love them with all of me, you know?”

He paused, chuckling.

“Not that I have people banging down the door to get to me now, but still. Someday, someone might be stupid enough to take a chance on me, right?”

The way he was looking at Hux in that moment, was ... strange. Hux felt like there was a third person in the room, a kind of palpable energy was flowing between them. Without being aware he was going to do so beforehand, Hux opened his mouth and heard himself say,

“If I had someone like you, I’d die. I’d literally be so happy that my body couldn’t handle it and I’d die.”

Ben’s mouth has dropped open, and he was staring at Hux as though the redhead had gone mad.

And maybe, Hux had.

But the feeling that had been building up while he was sitting here, alone, with Ben, had finally overflowed to the point where it was impossible to control.

“I’m sorry, I feel like I’m scaring you. But, honestly, Ben, I think about you a LOT. If I could, I’d just spend all day staring at you. It makes me glad, in a sense, that we don’t have any classes together at school; because if we did, I’d never get anything done. I would just stare, and drool, and write you a million stupid little love notes and poems and pictures.”

Hux stopped himself from going any further, having finally come to his senses. He felt he had to say those things, yes; but he wasn’t sure he had done so in the right way. Whether Ben was interested in boys or not, there was no possible way he could be interested in Hux, himself. So, like all things that he feared, Hux tried to back out of the situation his confession had put him in.

“I’ve ... Ive had a lot to drink tonight,” Hux stuttered out, looking for an excuse to justify his actions. “I ... I think I’m just blathering, man. I’m sorry.” 

But Ben wasn’t fooled for an instant.

“Well, I haven’t had anything. One hundred percent sober. So believe me when I tell you, Hux, that I REALLY like you, too.”

Before Hux could react, before he could so much as blink, Ben had taken his face between his hands, and was kissing him. Hux was very startled and he attempted to pull away, at first. But Ben wouldn’t let him go. So Hux let go, instead. He let go of his fears, his inhibitions, and he let himself enjoy the utter beauty of the moment.

Soon, almost too soon, Ben pulled back, looking at Hux with fear.

“I’m sorry, I should have asked first. But Hux, I’ve wanted to do that, for so long! You have no idea how much I ...”

Hux cut him off with a kiss.  
And another.  
And another.

And then he was looking into Ben’s eyes with all the adoration, the awe of somebody seeing the sun for the first time.

He wasn’t sure what to say; words seemed inadequate to the situation. So he simply put his arms around the other boy and hugged him. 

“Me, too,” he whispered in his ear.

Ben looked up at the time piece on the wall, and lightly cursed to himself. “Kriff. It’s been nearly 40 minutes ... they’ll be expecting us to come back from our ‘dances’ any second.”

He stood up and held out his hand to Hux.  
Hux took it.

They walked as slowly as possible through the ship, back towards the door of the club they had snuck out of. Nobody was around, and Ben took advantage of their momentary privacy to kiss Hux, again, leaving both boys floating and breathless.

“Do you have a holographic communicative device?”

Hux nodded. “At home, yes.”

Ben pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket, and a pen, and handed these to Hux. 

“Write down your receptor code for me. I’ll call you tonight, before bed, and we can talk more. Okay?”

Hux nodded and wrote it down, then he pressed the paper lightly back into Ben’s hand.

“I’ll look forward to it,” he said, and he quickly leaned up and gave Ben a final kiss on the cheek, before opening the door and stepping back inside.

Suddenly, he had enough energy to tackle the rest of his night. 

And, for once in his life, he couldn’t wait to get home.


End file.
